Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Brighton_belle

just a quickie, back laters:

well done hester!!

Kittikins - have you heard of [EMAIL="Bl@ckberry"]Bl@ckberry[/EMAIL] w00ds?:
http://www.blackberrywood.com/#Home

very near you and I'veheard rave revues from it from families with young (and older)children. Friend's hubby took just their 4 yr old recently. You have have open fires there too. Might be a perfect way to start camping.

Frugaldom

Well done, Hester, that's my kind of complicated transaction Hope you enjoy the trip.

BB, Blackberry Wood sounds fun without even looking at the campsite!

Not a lot going on here as it has been pouring all day. It's so miserable and damp that the fire's lit and washing all hanging on the airer. It also means the livingroom is very warm at 23 degrees, but all the doors are open and the heat is circulating.

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins:D

Finally the chicken house has made it up to the cottage, and the freezer:D, (which I finally gave up trying to empty and just loaded it into the van about a third full of stuff:p,) also managed to fit in a tallboy which I have recycled and will be transforming, and my pvc cloches. Going to get OH to make me some deep raised beds to fit the cloches for squashes and courgettes next year.Also brought more recycled jars so may make a start on the blackberry jam at the weekend.
Lovely neighbour has been in and left a dozen eggs , so LETS payment needed for those, now just need to catch the lovely landlord and confirm it is okay to sneak 5 hens and a cockerel from next door into ours:j
Fire also lit here tonight to air the house.:D

Kittikins

BB, thanks so much for the link - it looks lovely and wow, it is very near us They've got a caravan free for 2 nights shortly before DD starts school, it's a definite maybe I could hug you!

Skint_Lynne

Evening everyone,

I'm just back in from doing the camping shopping, so am going to try and get some stuff organised and put into bags and things. I've done a menu plan for the week, so we know what we are eating. Thanks for the menu suggestions everyone, we won't starve now.:p

I wonder what the weather will be like.:rolleyes: It will be an experience if nothing else. BB the campsite you have found for kittikins looks really nice, it's a pity that's it's a long drive for me to get there, or I would be going.:D

Will check in later. xx

Brighton_belle

That's wonderful kittikins - you've made my day.

LOL lynne - yes, the petrol cost would probably pay a night in a hotel closer to home. Have fab time: look forward to hearing all about it.

SM gets to use her chicken house at last:D Can't wait for piccies.

Took a cake round for my lovely elderly neighbour to sell at her church bazaar tomorrow - a nice exchange for borrowing her brasso recently. She turned 88 this week and she's great inspiration for my old age.

Talking of birthdays - any plans for our birthday weekend Nyk?:D (and Janey if your are lurking)

BigMummaF

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Kittikins - have you heard of Bl@ckberry w00ds?:
http://www.blackberrywood.com/#Home

very near you and me too!

Were you sitting in the back of the car yesterday BB, while me muvva & I discussed the possible 'joys' of camping :rolleyes: She was bemoaning the fact we've no plans to have a break this year [*long story--see below] & I remembered we had a tent in the loft My only experience had been two cub camps when I was 'Cookie' & the thought of her & I in a tent was equal to that skit of Morcombe & Wise preparing breakfast to The Stripper :rotfl:Luckily we were sitting in the car park at the time or I would have had to pull over! What was that advert about "Camping equipment = £875; Eating out whilst there = £200; not being able to get in or out of the ruddy tent for laughing = PRICELESS!"
I'm so glad they can't tax you for having a good belly laugh or I'd have been bankrupt several times over before my 16th birthday My grandad always said I would laugh to see a pudding crawl--don't ask me what it means because I never did find out--but thankfully I have been blessed with a quirky sense of humour & I'm relying on that to get me through the Challenge.
[*We've had to replace the car this year nothing special, an 11yr old to be precise. She doesn't drive & I can't afford it on my own, plus it's a lot easier to be chauffeur for all her medical appts than rely on public transport. Given she's a half octogenarian I also think she deserves this little 'luxury' when--as she says--it is her only vice!]

Frugaldom

Good morning to all

It is absolutely lashing rain here, got completely soaked this morning and there's now a huge puddle forming at the back door where the waterproofs are dripping dry. It isn't cold, however, so it's not so bad.

Had a quick chat with SM last night as she lovingly unpacking her chicken coop, leaving the less important stuff, like the freezer, for OH. :rotfl: Can't wait to see the coop built up and in place and just hope we're allowed to move a few hens. I'm calling them SM's birthday hens, as these particular chicks hatched on SM's birthday, her first weekend of getting the house next door.

Last night's frugal exercise went well, it was over sooner than I expected owing to the fact that my counting whilst walking and running has been far too slow! Carrying my shiny, bright new stop watch, a very thoughtful and much appreciated early birthday pressie from HS, I discovered that my brisk 5 minute walk to the forest track was actually 6 minutes and that for the past 3 weeks, I have been going a little over all the recommended times and distances. Still, every little helps, I guess, and next week (Week 4) will be the telling one as the times and distances step up quite a bit again. Still not got any weight falling off me, although I think I may have dropped a kilo somewhere over the past 48 hours. :rolleyes: This muscle toning before weight loss is a pain, I want to see scales tipping the balance in reverse as if by magic. :rotfl: Managed to grab another handful of blackberries en route home, so these got added to the tub in the fridge.

Hope the weather isn't too bad for camping, SL. If you're heading for Campbelltown, watch out for any strange night sky activities around Machr!hani$h (supposedly disused) airbase.

BB I have given up planning my birthdays. Once again, I have something else that week - DD's wedding - so will be otherwise distracted. Maybe I'll can be organised by my 50th, that'll give me a few years to prepare, assuming DS doesn't land any major events at that time. Have you anything special planned? Haven't spoken to Janey recently.

sophiesmum_2

nykmedia wrote: »

Had a quick chat with SM last night as she lovingly unpacking her chicken coop, leaving the less important stuff, like the freezer, for OH. :rotfl: Can't wait to see the coop built up and in place and just hope we're allowed to move a few hens. I'm calling them SM's birthday hens, as these particular chicks hatched on SM's birthday, her first weekend of getting the house next door.

:rotfl::rotfl:Well you do need to get your priorities right with these things!!:rotfl::rotfl:

Just had some of your yummy eggs for breakfast:D, loaf is on and decorating (painting) the lounge is the order of the day here whilst it is wet weather, but popping into town first for a ladder,some fencing, and undercoat for tallboy, to make best use of van whilst we have it.At least it will save us two lots of delivery charges.

Whitewing -Meant to say earlier in the week, if you are lurking hope you have enjoyed your first year of married life, doesn't seem a year since you and OH were plotting the wedding.

Happy Birthday wishes to all those with upcoming birthdays:D

Savvy_sewing

Cambletown! Thats where my granny came from. As far as I know there are still lots of family there! My mums side of the family. They are fishermen. Or should I say fisherfolk, as there are females in it.! My mum does all the family tree stuff, I cannot keep up with her on it!. Talking of the parrots (thats our name for Mum n Dad), they come back from their 4 month trip in France today!.
What yuk weather they have come back too. Bet they will be planning another trip back within weeks!. Personnally if I could have stayed there, I probably would. My sister and my brother both either live there or have property they intend to live in when done up.
Wishful thinking on my part, me thinks!